Poll Vaulting

Syracuse’s first four conference games involve teams that currently occupy the last four spots in the Big East standings. Two of those games have already been played: On Dec. 30 the Orange bested the Seton Hall Pirates 100-76 at the Carrier Dome before traveling to Tampa, Fla., and defeating the South Florida Bulls 59-54 on Jan. 2, improving their record on the season to 14-1 (2-0 in the Big East).

After the Seton Hall game, head coach Jim Boeheim appeared in his usual “etched-in-stoic” demeanor, expressing the observation that, despite a nearly 30-point blowout, the team is nowhere near where it should be for the upcoming Big East slate. “There’s a long way to go and we barely scratched the surface,” said Boeheim. “We’ve got to cut down on turnovers and try to finish better inside. There’s a lot of work to do.”

Syracuse had 20 turnovers opposed to the Pirates’ 16, and if SU didn’t shoot 56 percent from the field and knock down 12 three-pointers—seven by sophomore guard Andy Rautins—which most likely won’t happen against top-tier Big East teams, this game would have been closer. But SU did all those things right, and the only real highlight during the rout of the New Jersey Catholic school was amusingly observing that the water boys wear suits on the sidelines—so in case you’ve ever wondered what the next step was for career altar boys, look no further.

One and done: This might be the only picture you see of Kristof Ongenaet this season, as the senior has received sparse playing time, but somehow managed to sneak in a dunk against Seton Hall. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTOS

After those two wins last week, SU is now ranked No. 11 (previously 13th) in the Associated Press poll and No. 9 (previously 11th) in the ESPN/USA Today poll. And within two weeks, the chance to become the No. 1-ranked team in the country is a stark reality for the Orange—that is, if they don’t incur the numerical discrimination that pollsters and selection committees love to bestow upon them.

The only team that stands in SU’s way of achieving that lofty goal are the Duke Blue Devils. In 2007, Duke and Syracuse were both 22-10 before tournament selections were announced. Despite the identical record, Syracuse did not make the cut and was sent to the National Invitation Tournament, while the selection committee seeded Duke sixth. By the way, in a fit of karmic justice, the Dookies ended up losing to perennial losers Virginia Commonwealth University in the first round.

That same sort of favoritism has already been seen this year. Duke lost its first and only game of the season on Dec. 6 against then-unranked Michigan, yet the following week, dropped from No. 4 to No. 7 in both polls. SU lost its first and only game of the season on Dec. 15 to Cleveland State on a miracle 60-foot shot by Cedric Jackson at the buzzer, and dropped from No. 11 to No. 17 in the AP poll.

Duke has since worked its way up to No. 2 in both polls. And since the unranked former Big East’ers Boston College upset the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels the day before this week’s polls were released, it allowed the unbeaten Pittsburgh Panthers to claim their first national No. 1 ranking in the polls. SU faces Pitt on the road Monday, Jan. 19. If SU wins the four games in between that match-up, including contests against No. 9 Georgetown and No. 13 Notre Dame, the only teams standing in the way of No. 1 would be Duke and, oh yeah, those AP pollsters.

The Big East has nine teams ranked in the top 25 and 10 of SU’s remaining 15 games are against those teams. “Watching the teams play in this league, I’m just absolutely amazed at how good the teams are,” said Boeheim. “The two most impressive teams I’ve seen this year are West Virginia and Georgetown, who are ranked seven and 10 {in the Big East}, which is an indication of what we have to look forward to the rest of the way.”

But before they travel to Washington, D.C., to face the Hoyas on Wednesday, Jan. 14, the Orange have two more should-wins against Big East cellar dwellers. On Wednesday, Jan. 7, 7 p.m., the DePaul Blue Demons (8-7) come into the Dome. After that, it’s on the road again for a Jan. 10 battle with Rutgers. 

Although they haven’t defeated anybody of note this season, the Blue Demons gave Notre Dame, who defeated the Hoyas 73-67 on Jan. 5, a fight on New Year’s Day, losing by 10. And if SU comes in with the mind-set that they’re facing a pushover, they’ll end up giving the pollsters another reason to send them back to the NIT. 

—Tom Kahley

Defense in limbo: The Orange can expect a little bit better defense than was played by Seton Hall against Rick Jackson as they enter a brutal Big East schedule in the coming weeks.